Patches of fire
Subtitle: a story of war and redemption
By: Albert French.
Edition: 1st Anchor Books ed.
Publisher: Anchor Books
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 241
Subjects: French, Albert.; Authors, American -- 20th century -- Biography.; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 -- Personal narratives, American.
Description: Patches of Fire is the story of a young man's encounter with a war and with deaths beyond his understanding; of his return to a country torn by racial unrest in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.; and of his painstaking efforts to defeat his inner demons and make a place for himself as a black man in white America.

With a starkness tempered by humor, French brings to life the horrors of Vietnam, and recounts in compelling detail his uneasy tenure as a newspaper photographer, his heady days as publisher of his own magazine, his confrontations with the ghostly images of Vietnam that haunted his dreams - and the sense of renewal and purpose he achieved as a novelist.

The very personal story of French's trials and triumphs, Patches of Fire is also a revealing exploration of the black soldier's experience in Vietnam, the plight of the Vietnam veteran, and the redemptive power of writing.